Driver Arrested After Chase Closes Freeway

NICK GREEN

A man who led authorities on a high-speed chase from Van Nuys to Oxnard--and forced the temporary shutdown of the Ventura Freeway--was arrested on suspicion of evading police, authorities said Tuesday.

Robbie Mills, 41, was booked late Monday after eluding police cars by weaving in and out of traffic at speeds exceeding 100 mph, Los Angeles police said.

Eventually, the Van Nuys man pulled over in Oxnard, and the northbound lanes of the Ventura Freeway were shut down briefly while he was arrested, according to a California Highway Patrol spokesman.

"I think he just finally realized he was driving so fast for so long and we were still behind him that he wasn't going to get anywhere," said Officer Dave Cockrill of the Ventura CHP office.

Three CHP units took over the pursuit from the LAPD at the county line.

Police shut down the freeway's northbound lanes at 9:45 p.m. for about five minutes.

Mills had fled after officers attempted to pull over the car he was driving in Van Nuys because the vehicle's license plate did not match that found in state records, said Lt. Anthony Alba of the Los Angeles Police Department.